Cross Tail: Threads of Fate
by The Slain Executioner
Summary: Tatsumi paced the cage he was confined in, tears dripping onto the ground continuously. He had been informed of his public execution. Incursio, Bulat, Sheele, and Chelsea… all of them would be lost in the abyss of death where he would be banished to very shortly. However, his thoughts were not on his execution.


Tatsumi paced the cage he was confined in, tears dripping onto the ground continuously. He had been informed of his public execution. Incursio, Bulat, Sheele, and Chelsea… all of them would be lost in the abyss of death where he would be banished to very shortly.

However, his thoughts were not on his execution.

/

Tatsumi punched the wall over and over, blood staining his knuckles from the repeated action. His blood mixed with the tears residing on the cold, stone floor, letting him see his disheveled, dirty, and pained face in a twisted mirror. He stared at himself. His eyes grew wide, full with a false realization.

"Am I really too weak to protect Lubbock…? I promised Mine I wouldn't let anyone else die…" Tatsumi whispered. His fist shook from sadness and pain, forcing him to punch the wall again. His skin peeled away, leaving raw bone protruding from the bloody wound. "He did his best… he even took down Shura. But I…!" Tatsumi's voice caught on the all-too-familiar lump in his throat. "... I couldn't even take down my opponent!"

He slumped down, landing his his chin resting on his chest. "Mine… I'm sorry."

Too quickly, Night Raid was diminishing. Sheele died first, falling into a horrifying creature's mouth. Bulat followed, betrayed by a comrade. Chelsea's was the most brutal of the two previous, but Lubbock's death terrified Tatsumi a great amount more than any other death. Even Bulat's. Despite the grand times of joy and bliss, along with the rough times he shared with Aniki, he couldn't help but feel worse for Lubbock. After all, he was brave enough to take on a man with psychic powers.

Shrugging at his own stupidity, Tatsumi sighed. He realized that Budou was even more formidable of an opponent; rivalling Esdeath's strength. Lubbock wasn't weak; nor did Shura outclass Lubbock. The unavoidable thread of fate twined itself around his perverted friend and stabbed him in the back, as Leone did with himself when his journey first began. Tatsumi clenched his injured fist. "But… why can't all backstabbing be this lighthearted…" he mumbled through the tears flowing down his cheeks. The trail of sadness, lacing his eyelashes and travelling down his face permeated his mouth. Salty. Bitter. Comforting.

Comforting?

He shook his head. Ridiculous. How could sadness comfort him? It had developed him in the past, yes, but it couldn't comfort him, could it? No. That was only for those that believed in a god somewhere in the sky.

Or hell, depending on who was taken from him.

"_We're assassins of the people. And yet… your fly was totally down." _

"_So, Tatsumi? How far have you two gotten?" _

"_Geez… why do I have to get paired with a guy?" _

Tatsumi vividly remembered the times he spent with Lubbock. He was such a joker; always fooling around and poking fun at Tatsumi, and yet, he still managed to speak such inspiring words that even Najenda acknowledged.

He wondered what Lubbock's last thoughts were as he was falling from the sky. Were they about Najenda, girls, or something else? Tatsumi recalled Lubbock speaking about how they were assigned this specific job due to Lubbock's espionage experience and Incursio's invisibility. Since Lubbock was unable to see the job through, he'd want Tatsumi to do it. Knowing that Lubbock never gave up on a mission until it was completed, the tears began to flow again as Tatsumi realized that Lubbock's last thoughts were about completing the task at hand.

"... and I failed you, Lubba… I failed Mine. I failed Najenda. I failed Bulat. I failed Chelsea. I failed Sayo. I failed Ieyasu. I failed too many people for what I was supposed to do," Tatsumi sobbed as he wallowed in his self-pity. "... now I'm going to be executed in public…"

The image of Lubbock's back penetrated by six spears flashed back into his mind. "No…! Get it out! Stop!" The image persisted; however, and his dangling body sliced deeper and deeper into Tatsumi's conscience as it remaining embedded in his mind.

Suddenly, Lubbock opened his eyes slowly. With a pained smile, Lubbock choked out, "Ta-Tatsumi… do you want to die by Esdeath's hand?"

Tatsumi knew the 'living' Lubbock was a flashback, thus leading to him not being surprised. "No…"

Lubbock coughed up blood. "Well then, I suggest you use the other option. After all, our ancestors chose this path in your situation. See you later… Tatsumi." His eyes closed once again, and Tatsumi knew that his daydream would never speak to him again. Tears flowed out of Tatsumi's eyes once again as he pondered the words illusionary Lubbock said to him.

"Other option… what other choice do I have than to be killed?" The idea hit him like a brick.

Tatsumi stood up, and furiously began hammering on the wall with his fists and feet as hard as he possibly could. Teeth gritted and mind determined, he knew what he wanted to do. Bulat died at an old friend's hand. Chelsea's very name was humiliated. Sheele and Lubbock, despite dying in honor, died brutally at an opponent's hand.

He wouldn't follow that destiny. Tatsumi shook the threads of fate off of his body and threw all his energy into smashing the wall. It was his last-ditch effort to escape humiliation, as he had nowhere else to run.

Tears began to flow even more furiously. "Lubbock. Sheele. Aniki. Chelsea. Sayo. Ieyasu. No one is going to humiliate me through death. Nobody…!"

His efforts were rewarded and half of a brick flew off from the wall. Tatsumi hefted the brick in his hands, and lay in on the ground. He stared at it for a few seconds, then closed his eyes.

/

"Hey, kid. Stop making so much…" The guard stopped cold when he saw blood pooling on the floor. He rushed to Tatsumi's cell.

Tatsumi lay there, drenched in a pool of blood that was his own. He had thrown himself on the sharp end of the brick he chiseled from the wall, effectively committing suicide. The tiniest smile lay plastered across his lips, and his eyes were peaceful.

/

"Gah!"

Tatsumi woke up with a shout, startling Mine who sat across from him, reading a fashion magazine. He instantly began to cry, as the terrifying dream he just had shook him up greatly.

Mine threw her magazine down and ran over to him. "Tatsumi! What's wrong with you?"

"Lubbock died from being impaled by six spears and then I killed myself," Tatsumi shakily said.

Mine was unfamiliar with these kinds of situations, so she simply hugged him with a confused and embarrassed expression plastered on. Her face gradually faded into a shade of red. But due to her efforts, Tatsumi calmed down and his breathing returned to normal. Once she was sure he was okay, she quickly withdrew herself from being so close to him.

"D-don't expect that every time, you know. Just because we're going out doesn't mean I'll do that for you aga-"

"Thank you, Mine," Tatsumi sighed with relief. "I owe you one." He looked over at Lubbock, who was reading a manga and grinning with that perverted spark in his eye.

"_What if that dream actually happened in real life?" _

/

Several days later, Tatsumi looked up in horror to see Lubbock impaled on three spears, blood spurting from his stomach wound.

/

**AN: So, after seeing Lubbock's anime death (and thoroughly crying about it) I felt spurred to write a oneshot not based off my Akame fic. I wanted to write something very short about Tatsumi's mind and what it was thinking, all while throwing in a little support for TatsuMine. In any case, hope you enjoyed. Check out my Akame ga Kill fic, Sayo and Ieyasu: Killers of Fate.**

**Leave a review!**

**/**

**See in you in the next chapter. **


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